Contents

The political clauses stipulated that the signatory should "take all measures necessary to secure to all persons under (its) jurisdiction, without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion, the enjoyment of human rights and of the fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression, of press and publication, of religious worship, of political opinion and of public meeting."

No penalties were to be visited on nationals because of wartime partisanship for the Allies. Each government undertook measures to prevent the resurgence of fascist organizations or any others "whether political, military or semi-military, whose purpose it is to deprive the people of their democratic rights".

The border with France was only slightly modified in favor of France, mostly in uninhabited Alpine areas (except for the Tende valley and La Brigue) thus de facto remaining the same of 1860. Italian diplomats were able to maintain Aosta Valley despite the territorial demands of France and Alto Adige despite the territorial demands of Austria (thanks to the Gruber–De Gasperi Agreement signed some months before).

Italy avoided the occupation of the country, a fate that Germany and Japan shared, but its territorial losses included areas that had been part of the country before the advent of the Fascist regime in 1922 ( e.g. Libya and Dodecanese, which were conquered in 1911-12; East Gorizia, Istria, Adriatic Islands, and Zara, annexed in 1919).

Finland was restored to the borders of 1 January 1941 (thus confirming the territorial losses after the Winter War), except for the former province of Petsamo, which was ceded to the Soviet Union. In Finland, the reparations and the dictated border adjustment were perceived as a major injustice and a betrayal by the Western powers, after the sympathy Finland had received from the West during the Soviet-initiated Winter War of 1939–1940. However, this sympathy had been eroded by Finland's pragmatist collaboration with Nazi Germanybetween 1941 and 1944. During this time, Finland not only recaptured territory it had lost in 1940, but continued its offensive deeper into Soviet lands, occupying a broad strip of Soviet territory. This prompted the United Kingdom to declare war on Finland in December 1941, further weakening political support in the West for the country. The Soviet Union's accessions of Finnish territory was based on the Moscow Armistice signed in Moscow on 19 September 1944 and resulted in an extension of the accessions in the Moscow Peace Treaty that ended the Winter War.

The war reparation problem proved to be one of the most difficult arising from post-war conditions. The Soviet Union, the country most heavily ravaged by the war, felt entitled to the maximum amounts possible, with the exception of Bulgaria, which was perceived as being the most sympathetic of the former enemy states. (Bulgaria was part of the Axis but did not declare war on the Soviet Union). In the cases of Romania and Hungary, the reparation terms as set forth in their armistices were relatively high and were not revised.

The dissolution of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia did not lead to any renegotiation of the Paris Peace Treaties. However, in 1990 Finland unilaterally cancelled the restrictions the treaty had placed on its military.[5]